Joseph Bonanno - Plots and Disappearance

Plots and Disappearance

By the mid 1950s, the Commission that had held the peace for so many years was unraveling. Vito Genovese and Frank Costello were fighting for control of the Luciano family. Vincent Mangano had mysteriously disappeared in 1951; by nearly all accounts he'd been murdered by Albert Anastasia, one of the most feared men in the syndicate. Anastasia took control of his family, but was gunned down in October 1957. Then in November the New York State Police raided the infamous Apalachin Meeting in rural Apalachin, New York. Dozens of capos – including Bonanno – were captured and charged with various crimes. Then in 1963 Joseph Valachi, a soldier in the Genovese family, under indictment for murderering a fellow inmate, broke the code of omertà. Valachi described in detail the organizational structure of the Mafia, unmasked many of the leaders and recalled old feuds and murders. Although none of his testimony led to any actual prosecutions, it was nonetheless devastating to the mob.

After the death of Joe Profaci, a very good friend of Bonanno and leader of the Profaci crime family, he was succeeded by another good friend of Bonanno's, Joe Magliocco. Soon, Magliocco began to have troubles with the rebellious Joe Gallo and his brothers Larry and Albert, who were now backed by Lucchese and Gambino. Meanwhile, Bonanno was also feeling threatened by Lucchese and Gambino. The two then planned to have Gambino and Lucchese killed, as well as Bonanno's cousin Magaddino and Frank DeSimone in Los Angeles. Magliocco gave the contract to one of his top hit men, Joseph Colombo. However, Colombo betrayed his boss and went instead to Gambino and Lucchese. Gambino called an emergency meeting of the Commission. They quickly realized that Magliocco could not have planned this by himself. Remembering how close Magliocco (and before him, Profaci) had been with Bonanno, it didn't take them long to conclude that Bonanno was the real mastermind.

At Gambino's suggestion, the Commission ordered Magliocco and Bonanno to appear for questioning. Bonanno didn't show up, but Magliocco did and confessed. In light of Magliocco's failing health, the Commission imposed a very lenient punishment—a $43,000 fine and ordering him to hand over leadership of his family to Colombo. Soon, Magliocco was dead from high blood pressure. They intended to let Bonanno off easily as well, wanting to avoid a repetition of the bloodbaths of the 1930s.

Bonanno was already becoming unpopular with other Mafia bosses. For instance, Magaddino was incensed that Bonanno was moving in on Toronto, long considered part of the Buffalo family's territory. Some members of his family also thought he spent too much time away from New York, and more in Canada and Tucson, Arizona, where he had business interests. After several months with no response from Bonanno, they removed him from power and replaced him with one of his capos, Gaspar DiGregorio. Bonanno, however, would not accept this. This resulted in his family breaking into two groups, the one led by DiGregorio, and the other headed by Bonanno and his son, Salvatore. Newspapers referred to this as "The Banana Split."

In October 1964, Bonanno disappeared and was not heard from again for two years. Bonanno later claimed that he was kidnapped in front of his lawyer's apartment at 36 East 37th Street in New York City by Buffalo Family members, Peter Magaddino and Antonino Magaddino. According to Bonanno, he was held captive in upstate New York by his cousin, Stefano Magaddino. Supposedly Magaddino represented the Commission, and told his cousin that he "took up too much space in the air", a Sicilian proverb for arrogance. After six weeks, Bonanno was released and allowed to go to Texas. Although this account has long been accepted as part of Mafia lore, it is almost certainly false based on contemporary accounts of the time. For instance, it is not likely that Bonanno would have been walking the streets of New York unguarded, knowing that his fellow bosses had put a price on his head. Additionally, FBI recordings of New Jersey boss Sam "the Plumber" Decavalcante revealed that the other bosses were taken by surprise when Bonanno disappeared, and other FBI recordings captured angry Bonanno soldiers saying, "That son-of-a-bitch took off and left us here alone."

Bonanno's hold on his family had become tenuous in any event, however. Many family members complained that Bonanno was almost never in New York and spent his time at his second home in Tucson. He was also facing pressure from U.S. Attorney Robert Morgenthau, who had served him with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury investigating organized crime. The first round of questioning was to start on the day after he disappeared. Bonanno thus faced two bad choices—testify and break his blood oath, or refuse and be jailed for contempt of court.